Work began 11 years ago; fresh project report never considered

Anantnag: Construction work on a new building for District Institute of Education Training (DIET) here in Pampore town has been on a halt for more than 3 years now, as funds have dried up altogether.

The lack of work is all the more disappointing as the building is nearly complete and only needs some final touches following which it can be handed over to the Education department.

The new building, with an aim of providing a proper space for training of teachers and making the education sector better, was sanctioned in 2009-10 with an estimated cost of Rs 4.5 crore.

The work was entrusted to the Roads and Buildings Department, for completion within three to four years from the date of commencement.

“It is now the eleventh year and the building is lying absolutely vacant. The teachers of the district are using a shanty room, at the local higher secondary school, as their training centre, despite so much money having been already spent on this project,” a source in the education department told Kashmir Reader.

Sources told Kashmir Reader that the project was started during the National Conference-Congress government and initially the funding remained constant.

“However, the government changed and so did the policies, I guess. The funds dried up,” the source said.

An official in the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department said that project was undervalued to begin with. “And the time it took also escalated the cost. If we set out to make a building like that now, it will require double the money,” he said.

The official said that his department in 2018 readied a fresh project report so that the building would have been completed and handed over. “Our proposal never saw the light of the day,” he said. “Looks like the authorities have abandoned the project altogether.”

Kashmir Reader tried talking to Executive Engineer of R&B for Pulwama, Muhammad Yousuf Tramboo, but he did not attend repeated calls to his phone.

Junior Engineer for Pampore, Tariq Ahmad Baqal, acknowledged that the fresh proposal was never approved. “We submitted that proposal in 2018 but no action has been taken since,” Baqal said, adding that even payments of contractors were pending for the project.

Suhail A Shah